SLUG WIFE // RXO GUNDAM_

When you get asked to produce a custom Gundam painting for one of the sickest electronic labels in the country, pushing some of the freshest, most futuristic noise since Lucas Film created the sound of lightsabers, you know it’s going to become a labour of love. So, when the Slug Wife crew asked me to produce the cover for Gangster gastropod – Reso’s next E.P, it’s safe to say I was hyped. For those at the back, I’m a big Gundam fan.

I’ve spent decades producing graphics on my computer, but I much prefer the physical process behind painting now, so I opted to go for a hand painted piece. The only real brief I was given, was that the Gundam should be a little beaten up. So, with that in mind, I decided to set the character against a post apocalyptic background, with missiles and bullets flying around.

Slug Wife – RXO Custom Gundam Painting

To say a lot of work went into this would be an understatement! I decided to digitally edit the painting for minor tweaks and things like the lens flare, but I wanted to stay true to the original painting as much as possible. What’s the point in spending all those hours painting, to then digitise the image afterwards, right? I felt it was necessary to do at least some work on the computer, because all the photographs I took had glare, and I couldn’t scan the image because it was on a piece of MDF.

Final Digital Master Artwork

Once the painting was completed, I set myself the task of stripping the artwork down into 5 layers for screen printing. I thought this was all going to be pretty straight forward, and that was very naive. I’m no stranger to screen printing, but this process took far too long, never mind the issues I had with printers along the way! However, It forced me to print the merch myself at a friends studio, and the resultant quality was far in excess of what I’d been told was possible by numerous other companies. Below are a series of process, final product shots and links to stream and purchase the release. Check out my store for more info.